I have found myself unemployed a few times in life, and for many different reasons, and although it is extremely disheartening and frightening, I learned over the years to make the best of it. If you have ever lost a job, you have probably experienced a host of emotions: fear, panic, anger, stress... but, have you ever felt a sigh of relief? - I did once. I felt irresponsible for being happy at the such a loss. But.However,tTo be honest with myself, I didn't really like the job, or the people or the company. I loved the paycheck. I had no interest in the field;, I wasn't challenged, and to keep with honestycontinue being honest, I was completely bored with it. SoTherefore, when they informed the staff that the contract we were working on wasn't going to be renewed, it was a bittersweet blessing. I am pretty sure you know all the obvious silver-linings to being unemployed such as spending more time with your family, starting a business and yadda, blah, blah... While those are all pleasant and inspirational reasons, they are not the topic of today's article. The upside of employment that is rarely ever mentioned? -–The is the chance to reinvent yourself. I didn't take advantage of this benefit right away; survival mode had kicked it in and I did what we are all programmed to do, find a way to provide for my family and FAST! I was too busy stressing and applying to the same type of jobs I was happy about being laid off from to notice the rare opportunity that life had presented. It took about 20 applications and 4 interviews later to realize that... it was time for a change. I wanted to try something new. I have never had any trouble finding a job, but now I wanted to do something I LOVED! How was I going to find something I loved? I had NO clue! I started applying to jobs that I THOUGHT I might like, even if I had no experience. - That didn't work out for me. So, I decided to use a temporary employment agency, and that didn't work, either. All they did was place me where they could make a fast buck; in the same type of job I left! After much frustration, I finally sat down with my resume and made a hard decision to change the entire thing. By the time I was done, I had an idea of what kind of job I wanted. With my newly leveraged resume and accompanying cover letter, I placed my resume online and resubmitted it to a different employment agency; I was seeking very specific temporary jobs. I didn’t always enjoy the jobs, but sometimes I stayed on longer if they requested me and while other times, I delightfully turned them down. That is the joyful benefit of temporary employment. It allowed me to test and correct my career path. Don't get me wrong, I had moments where I wanted to give up and go running back to what was simple and easy. However that would have been short lived happiness. It took little over a year or so of following this 'strategically’ planned path before I landed a job that I wanted. Actually, it was less strategic and more like "WOW, that actually worked!? Was I thrilled for about the opportunity?? YES! Was I happy? Kind of... Would I go through this process again? I did, in the pursuit of happiness, and I didn't wait for unemployment to force my hand.Written By Mia R. Jackson, Lead Career Coach for www.jacksondakota.com